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Suddenly, he lifted me in his arms and walked me over to the couch, sitting down with me in his lap, consoling me, consoling the heart of a girl who only wanted to be loved by her mother, a girl who knew now, that was never going to happen.

“I’m sorry, I know you have a lot going on with the tournament.” I blubbered against his chest as tears continually fell down my face. “I just wanted to be here with you.”

“You can always come to where I am, no matter what.” He said. “Wherever I am will always be home for you, do you understand?” I nodded. “And no disrespect, but fuck yo mama.”

“Creed…” I laughed pulling away from his face and finally looking at him. He laughed too, before wiping my face with the sleeve of his hoodie.

“What? I’m dead ass. What the fuck happened that she would even say some shit like that?”

I sighed before firing off the story about what had gone down. I told him about how I was talking to Sevyn about our situation looking for advice and how Sienna’s nosey ass was apparently eavesdropping. I told him about how she had her opinions and I couldn’t stand to hear her talking about him like that but when she got to telling me I was an idiot I just snapped. I admitted saying some not so nice things to her, and that’s when she just blurted out everything I had been feeling from her for 19 years.

“What did yo Pops say?”

“I didn’t give him a chance to say anything, but honestly I think him and Sev were just too shocked that the words came out of her mouth to say anything. When I left this morning, they were both upset but I refused to stay longer. I knew if I stayed I was going to beat her ass.”

“You can’t be out here fighting ya mama now Tyson.” He said. “But, I’m glad you got yourself out of that situation. Damn baby, I hate this for you.”

“I knew it all along.” I shrugged as more tears fell down my face. “But damn, it sucked to hear it; not gonna lie. I don’t even think there’s ever any coming back from this.” I looked up at him, puffy eyed. “I missed you, so much.”

“I missed you too Beautiful. And I just wanna say I’m sorry about how I came at you?—”

“No, I know how it looked. I tried to warn you before how the dance was.”

“You did, but in that moment all I saw was a nigga too close to what was mine. I ain’t like that shit. It’s crazy, I used to see Gi talking to niggas and would be like whatever, I don’t give a fuck. But seeing you dancing with that nigga, that shit caught me the fuck off guard. I was gon beat his ass.”

“You were jealous?”

“Hell yeah.” He admitted. “But, I shouldn’t have blown up on you saying that shit like you was on some get back shit. I was trippin.”

“I know how we got together; I know our circumstances. I was fucking with you heavy while I had a whole man, but I would never do that to you. You were a one off for me. Our connection is something so unexpected, I didn’t know how to handle it. But now that I have it you will never have to worry about me having a wandering eye. I love you Creed. It’s crazy, we only been dating three months and even before you told me how you felt about me I was imagining our life together.”

“And what that life look like beautiful?” he rubbed the side of my face.

“You are my endgame.” I shrugged getting to the bottom line. “And if that means I have to figure out how to navigate a life with you and whatever role I’m allowed in your child’s life I’ll do it because I love you more than I have ever loved anybody in this world.” I felt another tear fall down my face which Creed quickly swiped away. “All I ask is that you give me grace because I’m figuring this out just like you.”

Creed exhaled, hard, before rubbing his hand down the front of his face. “I’m scared as fuck SB. How the fuck am I going to be a parent? I can barely take care of myself, now I’m going to be responsible for another human being?”

“The first step I think, is to have a discussion with your child’s mother about how y’all will coparent. After that, I think everything will fall into place and I’ll be there to help you figure out everything else.”

“I love you Beautiful.”

“I love you more. We got this!”

“Yeah, we got this.” He agreed before pulling me close and placing a kiss on my lips. “As long as I have you, I know ain’t shit I can’t do.”

16

CREED

Istretched out on my couch, my phone pressed to my ear, listening as Nas filled me in on how things were going in Vegas.

"Man, it’s crazy out here," he said, his voice hyped, carrying that same energy he always had when he was excited about something. "Training is intense, but I love it. Had my first fight last night."

I smirked. "Yeah? How’d it go?"

"Won by decision," he said, pride lacing his tone. "Got some shit to clean up, but my coach says I got real potential."

"I been telling you that," I reminded him.